The After Effects
by GoldenGirlSherry
Summary: Tony has some explaining to do.
1. Chapter 1

Tony had no idea why he had run out of Angela's study. Did he want to talk to her some more? Was he planning on telling her that he didn't want to expand his horizons? He really was clueless but one look at her retreating back Peter's hand resting on her shoulder had frozen him to the spot. He sighed heavily. He was so damned confused about everything he could barely think straight. He needed a drink- NOW! He turned around to go into the kitchen and was greeted by the double glares of Samantha and Jonathan.

"So, now I know why you are wearing the same clothes from yesterday." Sam said in a low voice looking at his baggy jeans and gray t-shirt disdainfully.

"What are you talking about?" Tony had a moment of panic. Did they know? This wasn't something he wanted advertised.

"We know that you slept with some bimbo last night. Who was it again? Oh yeah Kathleen from your study group." Sam said with disgust.

"First of all young lady do not use the word "Bimbo" ever again. Second of all how do you two know anything about this?"

"Fine! You slept with some **woman **last night. Is that better? And Mona told us."

Tony sighed again and rubbed his hands over his eyes. He wanted to strangle Mona with his bare hands. This was not for her to tell. But, he wasn't surprised, keeping quiet was not one of her strong suits. He had hoped though this time she would have kept things to herself. He walked over to the couch and sank down into it feeling like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. They followed him over and sat down on either side of him. He knew there was no way out of this. They wanted answers. He just hoped he had the right ones.

"So, ummm what exactly did Mona tell you? And why did she say anything at all? She didn't even want me to say anything to Angela and she told the two of you?!"

"We were worried Tony. We knew something was going on." Jonathan said quietly his expression angry.

"But, how?"

Sam and Jonathan exchanged a quick glance. What they were about to say would probably get them into trouble but at this point they didn't care. What had happened was way more serious than the possibility that they could and probably would get into trouble.

"We overheard you and Angela talking in her study."

"What?! You were eavesdropping?!" Tony was incensed. He thought he had raised them better than that.

"We didn't mean to. We saw you go into her study and we both wanted to ask both of you something."

"What?"

"I wanted to ask Angela if I could borrow her blue scarf."

"And I wanted to ask you if you would help me with my homework." Even though he really didn't need help-considering how smart he was- he had always enjoyed it when Tony helped him study. They would laugh and joke around each of them bringing his own expertise into the subject matter.

"We heard you say that you didn't go looking for this" Sam said in disgust.

"And Mom said she didn't want you feeling badly for seeing someone because of her."

"We knew then that something had happened and we didn't want to interrupt the two of you so we went to Mona's apartment. She told us everything."

Once again Tony sighed heavily.

"How could you Dad? How could you hurt Angela like this?!" Sam was beyond angry. She wasn't naive. She knew that ever since her Mom's death her Dad had been with other women. But, he and Angela had grown so close the past six years. She thought for sure they would eventually marry. Now, that was probably out the window. And all because her Dad had screwed up royally!

"I didn't go looking for anything like this to happen." Tony said reiterating slightly what he had told Angela.

"But, it did." Jonathan said. He was beyond upset. His Mom and Tony had grown so close the past six years. He had always thought marriage was inevitable. Now he didn't know what to think. All because Tony made the biggest mistake of his life as far as he was concerned.

Tony nodded. "Yeah, it did."

"So what happens now?"

Tony knew what he was about to say wouldn't go over to well. They would be hurt, upset, and probably wouldn't speak to him for awhile. But, since the cat was out of the bag he figured they might as well know everything.

"Well, I'm going to date Kathleen…" he trailed off at the furious expression on Sam's face.

"WHAT?! Why would you do that?"

"Because Samantha I can't just sleep with her and then dump her. I have an obligation to see if this could go anywhere."

"Oh please Dad! This isn't the1800's where a woman would be shunned if she slept with some guy and he never spoke or saw her again. Besides no woman in her right mind wants a guy to date her just because he feels obligated to."

"That may all be true. But, it was how I was raised."

"Dad, I know you've been with other women after Mom died. But, you never dated them afterwards. At least not for long. Why Kathleen? What's so special about her?"

Tony wasn't sure what to say. The truth was he wasn't so sure himself. Before last night he had thought she was annoying. But, when everyone else had left and they had been left alone he had discovered there was more there than everyone had thought. She was beautiful-not as beautiful as Angela though- and they did have things in common. They both loved art and Italy and were both in service type jobs. Plus the fact that they were both older students he had to admit added to the appeal.

"I don't know Sam. We have things in common. We're both older students and we both work in the service industry. She's a waitress." he added as an afterthought.

Jonathan had been quiet throughout the father and daughter exchange. But, something Tony had said had struck a chord in him.

"Tony, what about my Mom? You said you had an obligation to date Kathleen. Well what about your obligation to my Mom?"

"That's a good question." Sam nodded approvingly at him.

"Well we're going to date other people. She said that maybe that this part of our journey. That we have to go through this to see if we can go any further."

"So in other words she let you off the hook. She's amazing." Sam said a hint of admiration in her voice. Most women would have demanded that he make a decision right then and there. But, Angela had graciously stepped aside so her Dad could date this Kathleen chick. Okay technically she really didn't have that much of a choice. They weren't married, engaged, or even dating one another. But, still what she had done had taken a lot of guts.

Tony nodded. "Yeah, she did and yes she is."

"How long Tony? How long will this so call journey be for?"

"I wish I could tell you Jonathan. I really do. But, I honestly don't know."

Jonathan got up off the couch. "Well Tony I just hope that you haven't messed things up to much." He walked over to the stairs and was about to climb them when Tony stopped him.

"Me too. Hey, do you still need some help with your homework?" Tony hoped he would say yes. Maybe talking about something else would help.

Jonathan looked up at the top of the stairs. "No thank you Tony. I think I can manage on my own." With those parting words he ascended the stairs. A minute later the slam of his bedroom door echoed through the house.

"I'm going to go too. I have a book I need to finish for my English class." Sam said rising and walking over to the staircase. Before she put one foot on the bottom step she turned to her Dad and said:

"I hope that you haven't hurt Angela so much that you've ruined any chance of ever being with her." With that said Sam headed up the stairs to her room. A minute later the sound of her door reverberated throughout the house.

"Me too Samantha. Me too." he said quietly to himself.

Now he really needed that drink!


	2. Chapter 2

Tony went into the kitchen to get his much needed drink and found Mona sitting at the kitchen table eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"How could you Mona?!" he asked angrily going into the refrigerator and pulling out a cold beer.

"It's very simple Tony. First you take two pieces of bread…."

"Not that!" Tony rolled his eyes and popped the tab on the beer can and took a long swig. He sat down at the table. "I meant how could you tell Sam and Jonathan what happened?!"

"Oh that."

"Yes **that!**"

"Look Tony I wasn't planning on saying anything. But what was I supposed to do? They both came to my apartment all worried and upset."

"You could have said you didn't know anything."

"I wasn't going to lie to them. After all they did overhear Angela telling you that she didn't want you feeling badly about seeing someone because of her. So they already had an inkling what was going on."

Tony sighed deeply feeling like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. While he respected the fact that Mona said she wouldn't lie to them he also wished that they had never found out. Well they would have eventually since he would be going out with Kathleen and they would have no doubt picked up on what was going on.

"Okay okay I get that you didn't want to lie to them."

"No, I didn't. I mean they're not little kids anymore. Sam is practically in college and Jonathan will be in a few years. This does affect them too. I mean you and Angela are basically the only parents they have. They probably feel like their Dad betrayed their Mom."

"So do I." Tony said quietly his face downcast.

Mona placed her hand over his. While she wasn't happy over the fact that Tony had slept with Kathleen she hated seeing him looking so forlorn. As she had said earlier Angela and him probably were on the way to something but right now they weren't.

"Tony, you need to stop blaming yourself. I mean what's done is done. All you, Angela, well all of us can do is move forward.'

"That may be easier said then done."

"Why?"

"Well I decided to keep on seeing Kathleen." he looked at her to gauge her reaction. While she didn't look as upset as the kids she didn't seem thrilled by the news either.

"I see. So I take it Angela knows?" she pulled her hand away and picked up her sandwich and took a bite.

"Yeah, it was actually kind of her idea. She said that in light of what happened we should broaden our horizons. She said that maybe this is part of our journey."

"So how long will this journey be for? One date? Two dates? The rest of your school year? Marriage?"

Tony was taken aback at the word 'marriage.' "Who said anything about marriage? Mona, we haven't even been out on our first date yet."

"True, but face it Tone the two of you have gone way past the *first date.* "

He sighed and took another swig of his beer. "You're right."

"So I suppose the kids know about all this?" At his nod she continued. "And I take it they're not to thrilled."

"No they're not. Jonathan asked the same thing you did. How long will this journey be for? And Sam said that this wasn't the 1800's and that a woman wouldn't be shunned if the man she slept with never spoke or saw her again."

"She has a point Tony. I mean it's not like Kathleen is going to be run out of town if you decide not to date her."

"I know that Mona. It's just after talking to her and getting to know her well I guess I'm curious to see if anything more could be there. And I don't just mean physically. We actually have a lot in common. We're both older students. We both work in the service industry. I guess I just see a kindred spirit in her." He looked over at her. She was looking back at him a small yet sad smile on her face.

"Mona, look I'm sorry. I know that you want Angela and I together.."

"Don't be sorry. I mean yes I want you and Angela together more than anything but Angela is right. Maybe this is all a part of some weird and frustrating journey."

"She never used the words weird and frustrating."

"Yes, but aren't they the perfect words to describe your relationship?" she chuckled and elbowed him gently in his ribs.

He laughed softly. "Yeah, I guess they are."

Mona got up and took her plate over to the sink. She leaned against the counter and sighed. The next few weeks or maybe months weren't going to be easy but she had faith that they would all get through it. They had to because she knew in her heart that Tony and Angela belonged together. She placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Tone, just one thing?"

"Yeah?"

"Please don't make this a long journey. I mean the poor nun will need to rest sometime."

She squeezed his shoulders and left the room via the back door.

Tony sighed and finished his beer in one gulp. He got up and put Mona's plate in the dishwasher, rinsed out his beer can and threw it in the garbage can. He turned off the light and went into the living room where he turned out all the lights except the one on the front table. He pulled back the curtain and looked out. Was he hoping to see Angela coming up the walkway? Yes, he was. But, unfortunately there wasn't much he could do about it. He put the curtain back and headed upstairs to bed.

He just hoped that this journey didn't drive Angela and him apart.


End file.
